More recently, the name "Donetsk" for millions of people in all corners of Europe was associated with football. But 2014 was a period of severe trials for this city, whose inhabitants found themselves at the forefront of a war unleashed by a handful of adventurers against the civilian population. As one of the greats said: in order to understand the present and predict the future, you need to look into the past. Therefore, for those who wish to understand the events that have taken place over the past few months in eastern Ukraine, the history of Donetsk can tell a lot. So who and when was this city founded and why did its inhabitants not want to obey the Kyiv authorities pursuing an anti-Russian policy?
Backstory
On the territory of the capital of Donbass people have lived since time immemorial. This is evidenced by archaeological finds found during excavations carried out in some areas of the city during the last century. Scientists believe that in different periods therethere were temporary or permanent settlements of the Scythians, Cimmerians, Sarmatians, Goths, and a little later, the Slavs. However, in the period from the 13th to the 16th centuries, people left these places due to the raids of nomads, and new settlements began to appear there after these lands came under the control of the Don Cossacks.
History of Donetsk from the middle of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th
Active settlement of the Kalmius River basin and adjacent lands began in the 18th century by order of Catherine II. In 1760, Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda was founded on the territory of the Kievsky district of modern Donetsk, which later became a village. Around the same time, the settlements of Krutoyarovka and Grigorievka arose in the neighborhood. Their inhabitants, along with agriculture, were engaged in coal mining, large deposits of which became known after an expedition sent by Peter the Great to explore for minerals visited the banks of the Kurdyuchya River. In 1820, the first small mines appeared right next to Aleksandrovskaya. It was then that the history of Donetsk began as one of the largest centers of coal mining in Europe.
Foundation of Yuzovka
In 1841, 3 mines of the Aleksandrovsky mine were built, and by the middle of the 19th century, the number of enterprises engaged in coal mining in the region reached 10. A few years later, the government of the Russian Empire signed an agreement with S. V. Kochubey. According to the terms of this deal, a large plant for the manufacture of iron rails was to be built in the Donbass. In 1869, Kochubey sold the concession for £24,000 to an English industrialist. John Hughes, who began the construction of a metallurgical enterprise near the village of Aleksandrovka. In addition, he founded the village of Yuzovka for the workers of the new factory. Thus began the history of Donetsk, the year of foundation of which is considered to be 1869. Three years later, blast furnaces were put into operation, and the Yuza plant became one of the most important industrial centers of Russia. In just 15 years, the population of the working settlement of metallurgists grew 50 times, it turned into an industrial city, where there was a telegraph office, a hospital, several hotels and a school. It even had its own, as they would say today, elite microdistrict, in which engineers and other specialists lived, who came to Yuzovka to work under a contract. The locals called it the English colony and envied its inhabitants, who had access to such benefits of civilization as running water and electricity.
Donetsk: the history of the city after the October Revolution
At all times, the miners' collectives were distinguished by cohesion and organization, so it is not surprising that from time to time mass demonstrations of workers took place in the city, demanding better working conditions and higher wages. In particular, in 1892, 15,000 miners staged a skirmish, which was brutally suppressed by the government. Therefore, it is not surprising that in March 1917 elections were held in Donetsk for the Council of Workers' Deputies, and after the October events in Petrograd, this self-government body declared support for the government headed by V. Lenin. After that, the city repeatedly passed from hand to hand and onlyin December 1919 became part of the Ukrainian SSR. Moreover, even after that, the map of the east of Ukraine, or rather the borders of this country with the RSFSR, were considered controversial. The fact is that a significant part of the population and many politicians and intellectuals expressed great doubts about the legitimacy of Donetsk belonging to the Ukrainian SSR.
Stalino
Photos of Donetsk from the first years of Soviet power show that even then intensive construction began in the city. So, after its renaming to Stalino in 1924, a residential area "Standard" was erected there for metallurgists and miners, and in 1932 the first general plan in the history of Donetsk was adopted. However, he did not take into account the rapid increase in the population in connection with the commissioning of new industrial enterprises. Therefore, in 1938 it was finalized and about a dozen surrounding villages were included in the city, forming Kirovsky, Petrovsky and Proletarsky districts of Donetsk (Ukraine).
in the USSR.
Donetsk during the years of occupation
In July and August 1941, a partisan detachment and the 383rd Mining Division were formed in the city, which participated in its defense. However, at the end of October, formations of the Wehrmacht and parts of the Italian army entered Stalino. Thus, like the rest of Ukraine, Donetsk was under occupation.”New authorities”First of all, they hastened to restore the work of mines and industrial enterprises, the products of which were important for achieving victory in the war. At the same time, the Germans organized a ghetto for representatives of the Jewish community, who were subsequently destroyed and thrown into the 4-4 bis mine and a concentration camp for Soviet prisoners of war. There were also punitive detachments designed to suppress acts of disobedience to the occupying authorities. In particular, it is known that in the case of the murder of one German soldier, it was ordered to shoot 100 of the townspeople, regardless of gender and age. However, such measures did not give the result that the Nazis were counting on, and more than 20 partisan detachments and sabotage groups successfully operated in Stalino, causing enormous damage to the enemy.
The liberation of Stalino and the post-war years
September 8, 1943, as part of the Donbass operation, Soviet troops entered the city. Thus, the occupation of Stalino was completed, which lasted about 700 days. Almost immediately, work began to restore the industry, which Donetsk has always been proud of. The history of the city in subsequent years is full of interesting events, mainly related to the commissioning of new mines, industrial enterprises and residential areas.
In 1961, it was decided to change the name of the city. By decision of the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian SSR, it became known as Donetsk, after the name of the Seversky Donets River. After 17 years, the city already had more than a million inhabitants, it became the fifth largest incountry. The map of Donetsk has also undergone significant changes, on which several new microdistricts have appeared.
History of the city as part of independent Ukraine
After the collapse of the USSR in 1991 in the Donetsk region, for the first time, they started talking about the formation of autonomy. However, the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Ukraine, adopted in Kyiv, calmed the Russian-speaking population of the region, forcing them to forget for a while about the nationalist calls that were heard from Kyiv from time to time. Thus, until 2014, the map of Donetsk and the Donetsk region, or rather the borders of Eastern Ukraine with Russia, remained the same as during the existence of the Ukrainian SSR.
As part of the DPR
People's unrest began after the well-known events of the Euromaidan in Kyiv. Photographs of Donetsk taken between mid-March and the end of April 2014 show tens of thousands of protesters who took part in protests against the actions of the Kyiv authorities and the appointment of new governors to the regions. In particular, on April 6, residents seized the building of the Regional Council of People's Deputies, and the next day Ukraine was in the center of attention of the world media. Donetsk became the capital of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. In addition, on the same day, the day of the referendum was scheduled, at which residents had to answer the question of self-determination of the DPR. As a result of the will of the majority of residents on May 12, the sovereign Donetsk People's Republic was proclaimed in Donetsk. This was followed by hostilities involving heavyequipment and artillery. In particular, the city began to be constantly shelled, its airport turned into an arena of heavy fighting, and a map of eastern Ukraine began to appear on TV screens with marks indicating the places of clashes between Donbas militia fighters and Ukrainian security forces.
Today, a truce is in force in the Eastern regions of Ukraine, and there is hope that the residents of Donetsk and the entire DPR will finally be able to return to peaceful life.
